May is the month in which we commemorate the victims of war and celebrates freedom. Eggs and war, a greater contrast hardly seems possible, yet they are bound together in O, Collecting Eggs Despite the Times. Through the correspondence on Max Schönwetter’s untimely embarkment on oology, or the study of birds’ eggs, and Zwier’s close-up photography of the eggs together with peculiar cinematic juxtaposition of human and fowl, a new light is shed on the formerly-unknown slice of history.
Translucent golden eggs of the Tibetan bearded vulture or Jackson Pollock-like splashes of the British guillemot, Schönwetter endlessly studied eggshells, measured, weighted and described them. In his attempt to make accurate distinctions between the different types of spots and patterns. Following Schönwetter research, Zwier studied countless eggs with his camera, to focus on overall shapes, textures, spots, patterns, and handwritten notations applied directly to eggshells or via labels. Zwier's approach deviates by using a dark background and contrasting lighting to refers to the dramatic times in which these eggs were collected.